THEN: Secretary of State (KY), 1996-2004; Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, 2007
NOW: JYB3 Group (Owner) -public affairs consulting firm; Miller Wells law firm (Of counsel)
Full Biography:link
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Calendar equity? It may be time….
February is soon coming to a close. As usual, too soon.
I don’t say that because anything especially touching or profound happens ever February. Not at all. Just the very literal fact that Feb got the shortest number of days of any of the 12 months.
And over time it’s taken its toll on February’s self-image and self esteem.
It’s one thing to draw the short end of the stick one, two, three years in a row. But over 200 here in just the US! And don’t get me started on the whole Julian Calendar thing. It’s wounded generations of Februaries than can never be made right again.
It’s just that I was born with and have developed in my life a strong sense of social justice. And it’s time that we stand up for February to have equal time.
I commented last week about February have lousy national holidays. Do you think that President’s Day and Groundhog Day being in February is really an accident? It takes confidence and some successes to be able to handle a Thanksgiving or Fourth of July even (although there admittedly would be temporal challenges to moving the 4th to February).
The point is you’ve never heard anyone say, “I can’t wait until February!” Or “I hear we’re going to have an awesome February this year.”
It doesn’t happen.
In fact, we are so impressed, sated, and exhausted from the over-achieving November and December and –to a lesser extent–January, we typically just quietly endure the chronically under-achieving February….and, frankly, don’t even get our hopes up about anything until March 1.
It’s like February, already inferior, has to sit each year next to the three most popular kids in the class. Not fair!
February is like the Kentucky of Presidential Primaries (we get to vote in May to decide if it will be Romney or Santorum or Gingrich or any of the others, if they are still alive, physically and politically).
Sure, primaries (and Februaries) happen. But no one pays attention and neither really matters. Both are done mostly out of habit. More as an afterthought than eagerly anticipated.
I think, perhaps, we should take one day each from May, July and August (none has used efficiently their 31st day) and give those three days to February. February will then at least feel like it’s equal to most other months—with 31 days.
And then every four years, on Leap Year, February can look down it’s nose on all other months. And on that day, for the first time, Leap Year –and February –will totally rock!!
Or maybe…just maybe—and I’d love this!–February could turn the tables on the other “slacker” months by pointing out that it does in 28 days what it takes most the others 31 days to do.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Feb 24, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
The downside of eavesdropping.
Was just having dinner with my wife and daughter at a local restaurant. My daughter and I were talking and I noticed she was trying to listen to a loud conversation at the table next to us.
I paused and asked, “Do you like to eavesdrop?” She nodded yes. “Me too” I said.
We talked about the nuances of eavesdropping, how to do it effectively without being noticed, and how to spot tables that are interesting and eavesdrop-worthy.
We continued to dissect the art of eavesdropping before I noted, “You know, the good part about eavesdropping is that you learn other people —who often intimidate us bc they speak so confidently and loudly–aren’t that interesting after all.
At that moment, we each looked at the other with mild panic and realized the downside of eavesdropping.
No one…No table…not even the waiters or busboy were trying to listen to our conversation.
I said, “Oh my goodness. Do you think we are the least interesting people here?!!” My daughter, laughing, said, “Afraid so.”
After that we stopped eavesdropping and tried to talk louder and something someone else may want to eavesdrop on.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Feb 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
When I was about 6 or 7 years old I had an interaction with Colonel Sanders and he shared with me some pretty profound business wisdom.
We were at the Colonel’s Lady (Claudia Sanders) restaurant in Shelbyville, and the waitress had just brought rolls to the table.
The Colonel patiently showed me, a fidgety little boy, how to take the butter pats and mash and mix them with just the right amount of honey and then to smear the gold and yellow concoction on to a piece of the roll.
I loved it and wanted to keep eating the honey buttered rolls, but he stopped me because, he explained, his restaurant philosophy was to always leave the customer “wanting a little more” when they left— so they would come back.
That’s the opposite of the he-man meals restaurants feed us now….but I think the Colonel right.
In fact, that philosophy is good advice for many areas in our personal lives as well as in a variety of service industries.
But the advice I cherish the most from the Colonel –and have put the most frequent use in my life—was how to mix butter and honey for rolls.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Feb 22, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Great moments in Biblical interpretation.
When my daughter was young–around age 5–I read to her a children’s Bible.
It was great. The stories were condensed and easy to understand and discuss after reading.
Our first reading (and discussion) was a memorable one.
Adam and Eve. Maggie was intrigued by the story and got the “big picture” lesson….but she got hung up on something that really bothered her.
The nakedness part.
“Dad, do you mean they wore no clothes? As in no clothes at all? Weren’t they embarrassed?”
I explained that wasn’t quite the case. There were fig leaves, albeit not terribly fashionable by themselves, but they did do the trick of covering up important parts.
I said, “Well, remember, this is right at the beginning of things so maybe clothes hadn’t been invented yet.” I was trying to get Maggie to think for herself and asked, “What to you think may explain it?”
A light bulb went off with Maggie and she offered up her own explanation for why it was OK to run around naked back in the day.
“Maybe, Dad, they just hadn’t invented looking down yet.”
We decided to go with that explanation. It was simple, clear and made perfect sense to both of us.
So, if you–like Maggie and me–have ever wondered about this question, now you have a possible explanation.
And as a rule, I prefer the clear perception of a 5 year old on issues like these.
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Arrived at airport this morning shortly after 5am and about everything that could have gone wrong with parking, ticketing, security, etc, did go wrong.
As I arrived at my gate to board my plane I was told the doors had been locked “one minute ago” and it would be “impossible” to re-open the door.
The thought ran through my mind, “What would Alec Baldwin do in a situation like this?”
I remembered Alec likes playing “Words with Friends” on his cell phone when faced with airline issues but I didn’t have the app on my phone and wasn’t sure that would be helpful anyway.
I then asked myself, “What would Kayne West do?” I looked around but didn’t see Taylor Swift anywhere.
Stumped….and exasperated I resignedly asked myself “What Would Delta Have Me Do?” They were nice enough to get me on the next flight and now I have time to download the app for Words with Friends as well as Taylor Swif’ts latest single.
I think it kinda all worked out.
Thanks Alec. Thanks Kayne. And thanks Delta. Especially Delta.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Feb 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
It may be time to consolidate national holidays–at least for February.
We Americans like our holidays–and like ’em big.
We talk a lot about humility and gratitude, but when it comes down to it…we really want to have a good time. In a big way.
We need holidays worthy of our time and effort.
February is national holiday rich but festivities poor.
Valentine’s Day is nice and sweet– but limited. There are no great Valentine’s Day books or movies or songs. No theme parks named Valentine’s Land. Not even a theme park ride. No special poem to say the night before Valentine’s Day. No event to dress up for….and no special meal around Valentine’s Day. And if more proof were needed, there’s no work day (and school day) off for Valentine’s Day.
As national holidays go, Valentine’s Day is an “under performer” In marketing terms, Valentine’s Day is neither a “cash cow” nor “rising star.” It’s not quite yet a “dog.” It’s just there. Every Feb 14th. With a card and box of candy. And disappointment for not offering more.
Of the two other February national holidays, President’s Day is the only one that offers a work day (and school day) off. That typically says “Something big is about to happen.”
But not with Presidents’ Day. It’s an honorable holiday and good patriotic pause….but talk about bait and switch. Sure, there’s the big day off but–think of it– Do you have a relative, friend who has a favorite story about something crazy that happened to them on Presidents’ Day?
I don’t.
I’ve experienced 47 Presidents’ Days and can’t say I’ve ever done anything interesting enough on Presidents’ Day to want to retell to others.
Whoever was in charge of marketing and planning for Presidents’ Day, let us down.
Presidents’ Day needs a new marketing gimmick or we may soon find ourselves at work and school that day.
Maybe we can come up with a Leprechaun, a Bunny, or fat old man in a red suit to help re-brand Presidents’ Day to make it relevant again.
And then there’s the third, and final, national holiday in February. Groundhog Day. No day off, no presents, no sweetheart candy. Just a morning spent waiting for Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his burrowed hole to find out of he sees his shadow.
You read that right. I’m not even commenting on this one.
In business, where there are three lame business lines they can sometimes be consolidated into one strong business line. And that can apply to national holidays too.
I think.
There’s got to be a way to mix in a groundhog, cupid and romance, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and candy to create one off-the-hook holiday. It’s just a gut feeling I have.
But I see theme parks. Just need to work out the details.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Causation vs correlation.
Scientists and statisticians use this formulation to determine when the proximity between two events is sufficiently close to establish a causal relationship.
It’s an important concept.
Just because two events occur close to one another doesn’t necessarily mean they are related–i.e., the former “causing” the latter (“the cock crows and the sun rises”).
On the other hand, often they are linked and we need to make this important distinction (e.g., smoking leads to heart disease)–and adjust behavior accordingly.
Monday I was scanning my iPhone apps and noticed “Find my iPhone.”
I hadn’t thought about this app in nearly 3 months when I lost my iPhone and searched unsuccessfully for an hour before this app led me to my right pocket, where the iPhone was safely hidden.
Well, lo and behold, on Tuesday I lose my iPhone and have to use this app again to find it again. This time it only took about 8 minutes and it was located in my jacket pocket.
Which made me wonder, Did seeing the iPhone app the day before “cause” me to lose my phone the next day?
The human mind is a complicated mechanism. I think there was “causation.” And if some scientist tries to claim my analogy is more like the “cock crowing causing the sun to rise,” I’ll be the first to point out to the know-it-all that the sun rising is just an optical illusion.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Feb 16, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
After prodding from several friends I’ve finally started the Zija diet.
It’s a green powder you put in water and drink periodically throughout the day.
I think.
Don’t hold me to specifics.
I bought some powder that comes in green packets. I assume they go in water and are to be drunk with some regularity.
It seems that I haven’t read the instructions –yet–and am approaching this plan intuitively. provide rare and important nutrients and suppresses appetite.
My first day I weighed myself (benchmarking) and I drank a glass of water with the powder. It tasted all right.
I waited 30 minutes and then weighed myself again. Nothing. In fact I had gained a quarter of a pound.
The second day I didn’t eat much to avoid having to drink more green water, although I did drink a little later in the day. It was the batch I’d made the day before and tasted awful a day later.
It’s now been a week since I started the Zija diet. The past 5 days I haven’t drunk any of the powder bc it tasted so bad that second day. But I’ve still lost 4 pounds.
This stuff really works! Don’t know how exactly but I’m a believer.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Feb 15, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
It’s not enough for Mark Zuckerberg to take over our lives with FB. Now he wants to play God and tell us who we can and can’t be friends with.
Facebook just told me I’m about to max out on “friends” and they soon won’t allow me to make any new “friends” unless I delete a current friend to make room for the new one.
Wow!
Really, Mark?
Think of the confusing issues you will now force people to deal with.
Can I still make friends outside of Facebook?
If so, will they feel less of a “friend” since they can’t be a FB friend too?
Is there a name for these new FB-friendless friends?
Are there tips on how to navigate these relationships so these “friends” with asterisks, so to speak, don’t feel further marginalized?
Is it insulting to introduce non-FB friends to other non-FB friends bc their non-FB friend status gives them something in common?
Are non-FB friend friends less demanding on us?
Can we use the ” FB max out” excuse to avoid making a new non-FB friend we are uncertain about?
If I delete a current FB friend to make room for a new non-FB friend I’ll like better, what kind of fall out can be expected?
If I’m wrong and the new non-FB friend is a disappointment, can I switch back without the old deleted FB friend knowing?
How do I delete Tom, the guy in a white shirt who was my first and an automatic friend for all FB new users? I don’t even know who he is! Oh wait, that was MySpace.
Maybe my new excess friends can meet on MySpace. But how do I explain Tom to them?
C’mon, Mark! Making friends virtually shouldn’t be this hard. Maybe those guys in the movie Social Network who claimed you stole their idea know some ways to have more friends on FB. Unless you really are that much smarter and can figure it out first.
(That was mean for me to say….but not as mean as you forcing me to tell people they can’t be my friend “just because.”)
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Feb 14, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
From the heart? Or from Hallmark?
I’ll be buying a nice Valentine’s Day card for my wife.
The big kind that requires a special envelope big enough to for the over-sized card, ribbon, and frilly stuff attached to it.
But I’m also going to do something else.
I’m going to write–in my own words—a personal message of how I feel about my wife, how much I love her and appreciate her.
Sure, I’ll find the card that most closely says what I mean.
But if I don’t write something myself, I’ve outsourced to Hallmark (or another card company) the job of telling my spouse what she means to me—and that just doesn’t seem right somehow.
Some people might say they aren’t eloquent and prefer let the card speak for them. But a simple and non-eloquent personal message from the heart beats the most eloquent message written by another for the one we love any day of the week.
Calendar equity? It may be time….
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